


Of Brothers and Batcows

by jaldon



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU
Genre: Deep Conversations, Gen, Pets, Shenanigans, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 12:40:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17244377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaldon/pseuds/jaldon
Summary: “Someone needs to look after Damian while Dick and I are away,” Bruce says.Jason laughs. “Yeah, don’t let him hear you say that.” And then, when Bruce doesn’t respond, Jason says, “Wait, you wantmeto take care of him while you and Dick are going on space adventures?”





	Of Brothers and Batcows

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is a secret santa gift for marga. i hope u enjoy it and happy holidays!!!

Jason has just arrived home through the bedroom window his uptown apartment— the expensive one he acquired during the phase of his where he bought Bruce’s things under Talia’s name to piss him off, but rarely uses— when he hears a noise coming from the kitchen. He shrugs off his armor on the off-chance that it isn’t a member of his family, replacing it with sweatpants and a worn out Gotham U tee-shirt, grabs one of his knives, and quietly makes his way across the apartment. 

It’s Bruce, of course, because since when has Jason had good luck? He groans and drops the knife. 

“Hello, Jay,” Bruce says somewhat awkwardly— maybe it’s that he’s in full costume and Jason’s in pajamas, or maybe it’s that they haven’t had a real conversation since Jason hung out at the manor two weeks ago to meet Damian’s newest pet and now he’s standing in Jason’s kitchen. 

“What are you doing here?” Jason asks. His relationship with his father has been better as of late, but that doesn’t mean he appreciates unsolicited drop-ins. 

“I’ve come to ask a favor of you,” Bruce says. 

“I’m pretty sure you cached your last favor in for the Riddler case you pawned off to me two weeks ago, old man,” Jason says. But there’s something in the way Bruce is standing— personal, not business, even though he still hasn’t taken off the cowl— and the fact that they haven’t really fought in a while even if that’s only due to Jason’s steady avoidance of the man that makes him change his mind, and he says, “Fine. Shoot.” 

Bruce lets out a breath, and there’s an awkward moment of silence; Jason realizes Bruce hadn’t actually expected him to let him speak. He rolls his eyes and walks to his refrigerator to make himself a post-patrol sandwich. “C’mon, Bruce,” he says, “talk before I kick you out of my apartment.”  _ And destroy it as soon as you’re gone _ , he adds mentally. 

“I’m going to be off-planet for a week or so,” Bruce says, “League business.” 

“Uh-huh,” Jason says, “Dick and I will split up your usual patrol route. It’s fine, Gotham will be fine, we’ll alert you immediately if there’s an Arkham Breakout-”

“Dick is coming with me,” Bruce interjects. Before Jason can say anything, he continues, “and that wasn’t the favor I wanted, anyways.” 

“Spit it out then,” Jason says. He’s tired and the king sized bed in the other room is sounding better and better. 

Bruce hesitates. “Someone needs to look after Damian while Dick and I are away,” he finally says. 

Jason laughs. “Yeah, don’t let him hear you say that.” And then, when Bruce doesn’t respond, Jason says, “Wait, you want  _ me  _ to take care of him while you and Dick are going on space adventures?” 

“That was the idea, yes,” Bruce replies. 

“Huh,” Jason says, because this feels a whole lot like trust, and he wasn’t sure this was a stage he and Bruce were  _ ever _ going to reach. “Why not have him just stay in the manor like usual?” 

“I was planning on giving Alfred a vacation,” Bruce says. And Jason can’t really argue with that— he can hardly remember the last time Alfred went to see his family, and if there’s anyone Jason knows who does the definition of too much work, it’s Alfred.  

“Yeah, okay,” Jason says, and Bruce’s expression as he tries to hide his surprise is almost comical. “And you trust me with this?” 

“Do you think I would even be here if I didn’t?” Bruce says as he leaves, and it’s the most answer-y non-answer that Jason has received from him so he lets it be. 

-

Bruce drops Damian and a backpack full of God-knows-what— clothes, but Jason wouldn’t put it past his younger brother to sneak a small furred creature into his apartment— at 10 AM a couple of days later. After Damian makes himself at home on Jason’s couch, Bruce stands in the doorway. 

“Having second thoughts, old man?” Jason asks with a grin. 

“No,” Bruce says. “On the contrary, I was wondering if Damian will ever want to leave once I return.” 

“Ha,” Jason says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Jason,” Bruce replies, looking at him with an odd expression on his face, “thank you for this.” 

“Yeah, no problem. I mean, we’re brothers, right? That’s what brothers do.” And before either of them can make it any more awkward, Jason closes the door on him, saying, “Have fun on your trip.” 

As soon as Bruce is gone, Jason ducks into his bedroom and shoves the few personal belongings he keeps on him— a couple of photos, a battered copy of Pride and Prejudice, the cheap Batman keychain Roy bought him from the Gotham souvenir shop on 16th Street— into his bag. Then he goes into the living room to get Damian. 

“Where are we going?” Damian asks, looking annoyed at being distracted from drawing in his sketchbook.

“One of my other apartments,” Jason replies. “Unless you want to stay somewhere Bruce can watch your every move?” 

Damian closes his sketchbook and carefully places his colored pencils back in their case. “Let’s go,” he says. 

“Do you need a juicebox or something? A snack for the trip?” 

Damian rolls his eyes and clicks his tongue, already on his way out the door. “Hurry up, Todd,” he calls. Jason grabs a juicebox from the kitchen anyways. 

-

“I have to go over to the neighbor’s,” Jason says the next day, once they’re both situated in Jason’s (probably not for much longer) secret Bowery apartment. “I might be gone for a couple of hours.” 

If he’s being honest, he’s not really sure if Damian even heard him. He’s hunched over a book— something about space, Jason didn’t quite catch the title— with a pair of headphones on. But Damian looks up at him and nods. 

Jason almost leaves without another word, since Damian seems like he doesn’t want to be bothered. But something stops him, and he’s halfway out the door when he turns around. “Unless you want to come?” Jason asks. “You like animals, right? I need to walk a dog.” 

Damian comes with him to help out his neighbor, Mrs.Costello. She’s an old woman, in her early eighties, but has lived in the same place for almost fifty years. She can’t really get out much anymore, so when Jason’s around he helps her clean her apartment, get groceries, and walk the dog. 

Jason unlocks the apartment and ushers Damian inside. While he goes to find the dog— an old Labradoodle named Sugar— Jason goes into the kitchen to greet Mrs.Costello. 

“Hey Mrs.C,” he says, pulling open her dishwasher to put her dishes away. “I brought a helper today.” 

“I saw,” she says. “Who’s the kid?” 

“My brother,” he says. “His dad’s away on a work trip and I said I’d take care of him. Thought I could use some extra help.”

“Sugar has taken a liking to him,” she says, motioning to the other room where Damian is scratching the dog behind the ears. 

“Yeah,” Jason says, grinning. “Animals seem to really like him. Seems like every week he finds a stray cat or injured squirrel to take in.” 

Mrs. Costello pats his hand. “He seems like a good kid.” She hands him the shopping list and says, “Just like you. Here’s the groceries, sweetie.” 

Most of the groceries can be bought at the bodega two blocks away from the apartment, but Jason and Damian walk to the park afterwards to give the dog exercise. Jason and Damian sit on a bench while Sugar runs around. 

“So,” Jason says, “how’s the manor?” 

“Boring, as usual,” Damian replies. “Father shuts himself in his office and every so often he hosts a party that all of those insufferable aristocrats attend.” He glances at Jason. “You remember how it is.” 

“Yeah,” Jason says. “I remember hating those parties. Does Alfred make you wear a suit?” 

“Yes,” Damian says. “I don’t see the point, though, if they’re going to laugh at me when Father isn’t looking anyways.” And Jason can relate to that, because he has vivid memories of being thirteen and feeling like a stranger in his own home. Those parties were full of money and fame and prying eyes, too many of them full of distaste. 

He’s about to reply when a stranger in a brand new coat looks at Damian, does a double take, and says, “Hey, aren’t you that Wayne kid?” 

Jason and Damian look at eachother. “Shit,” Jason says. “Let’s go.” 

-

The next day, Damian accompanies Jason to the library he volunteers at and helps out during his shift. The day after, they go see an exhibit on dark matter and the Gotham Museum of Space and Science that Damian had been wanting to see for a while. The day after that, Jason takes him along to his shift at the Gotham SPCA, where Damian seems like he wants to adopt every animal in the place. 

“I wasn’t aware that you do all of this work,” Damian says as they make their way back to Jason’s apartment. 

He laughs. “Yeah, not many people do. I mean who would’ve thought that Gotham’s scariest vigilante takes care of puppies in his free time?” 

“You are definitely not the scariest,” Damian replies. 

“What, you think Batman is scarier than me? No way, kid. Every criminal in the city knows he’s a big softie that takes in kids for fun.” 

“The Black Bat can be quite frightening when she feels like it,” Damian says, shuddering. He’s probably thinking about some prank gone wrong— they all learned pretty fast not to try to trick Cass. 

“Yeah, you got me there,” Jason says. He tilts his head. “So I’m the  _ second _ scariest.”

-

That night is pretty quiet, patrol-wise. None of the usual rogues are out, for some reason, and after stopping a few would be robbers and dumping a kidnapper on the steps of the GCPD headquarters, Jason lets Damian lead. After a while, he realizes that Damian’s guiding them back to the Batcave and asks him why. 

“I thought that Batcow might be lonely,” Damian replies. 

“Kid, if no one’s been feeding that cow he might not be in a position to be lonely anymore,” Jason says. 

“Batwoman said she would feed my pets,” Damian says. 

_ Batwoman,  _ who is a fully functional adult.  _ Batwoman _ , who Bruce definitely trusts. “Why didn’t you stay with her, anyways?” Jason asks his brother. Although Jason’s seen Kate drink coffee straight out of the pot on multiple occasions, he’s pretty sure she’d be fully capable of taking care of a thirteen year old. 

Damian pauses, looking almost embarrassed. “I requested that father ask you.” 

Oh. “You  _ wanted _ to stay with me?” 

Damian nods and turns towards his cow’s enclosure. 

“So does this mean I’m the cool brother?” Jason calls after him. 

“In your dreams!” comes Damian’s reply. Jason can’t foresee Damian leaving his pet in the near future, so he settles down in Bruce’s spinning chair to watch Netflix on the Batcave’s (supposedly for strictly vigilante business, but who even cares anyway) giant television while Damian plays with his cow. 

-

Later, as they’re on their way back to Jason’s place, he gets a text from Bruce. “Diplomacy took shorter than expected. Will be back in eight hours,” it reads. 

Jason stops atop a gargoyle to wait for Damian, who’s just a short ways behind him. “New plan, kid,” he says. “We’re not going home quite yet. You ready for a trip to the waterfront?” 

Actually, Jason doesn’t take Damian to the waterfront but to the top of one of the century-old bridges that connect Gotham to New Jersey. From his earliest days back in Gotham, it’s been one of his favorite spots. The entire city in all of its gray glory can be seen from it. Jason sits down and Damian sits next to him, a blanket of silence keeping them warm. Finally, Jason says, “I miss the stars.” 

It’s one of Jason’s least favorite things about Gotham, the way one can look up every night and never see more than the cloud-shrouded moon. Between the air pollution, light pollution, and constant dreary weather, the Gotham sky isn’t a place to find solace. 

“As do I,” Damian says, studying the water far below. “And the quiet.” 

It’s funny, Jason thinks. He’s Gotham born and raised, and he got used to the constant noise of the city from a young age. To him, the League of Assassins was always loud, was always screaming, fire, pain. 

“I should have gotten you out,” Jason says suddenly. 

“I do not think you could have,” Damian says, still looking down. “I do not know if I could have left. I was weaker then. More attached.” 

“You were a kid, Damian,” Jason responds. “No child is ready to leave everything they’ve known.” 

Damian looks at him. “Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m allowed to miss it. I feel that maybe by missing Mother, I’m insulting Father.”

“You’re not,” Jason says. “Trust me. I never stopped missing Catherine in all of the years I lived at the manor. Hell, I miss her today.” He looks Damian in the eye. “Talia raised you, kiddo. She’s your mom. It’s okay to miss her.” 

“Do you miss her?” Damian asks, swinging his legs in the wind. 

“Yeah,” Jason replies after a while. “She saved me. She gave me a second life. I think I owe it to her to miss her at the very least.” Damian is quite. “I love her like I loved Catherine. Like a mother.”

“It’s strange, sharing her with you.” 

Jason laughs. “Hey, we could do a joint Mother’s Day gift or something.” 

“Tt. We’re not there  _ yet _ ,” Damian says. 

-

The next morning, Jason and Damian move back to the uptown apartment so Bruce can pick Damian up there. When he arrives, he looks tired but only slightly the worse for wear. It’s pretty obvious that, due to the cleanliness of the apartment, he doesn’t really believe Jason and Damian were staying there, but he doesn’t comment on it. 

Instead, he just says, “Thank you for doing this.”

“Bruce,” Jason says right before he leaves. “If you ever need someone to watch Damian again, I’m happy to oblige.” 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! you can find me on tumblr at [katrinekane](http://katrinekane.tumblr.com)


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